Incorporate Other Diseases Into Fight Against AIDS

Dec 05, 2011

“The public and private sectors have achieved remarkable success in Africa in the battle against AIDS, and the question now is: Where do we go from here?” James Glassman, founding executive director of the George W. Bush Institute and former under secretary of state for public affairs and public diplomacy, writes in this Forbes opinion piece. Noting the “incredible accomplishment” made in fighting HIV/AIDS over the past decade, Glassman says “the first answer to where we go from here is more of the same, and then some,” and states that the UNAIDS targets of “Zero new HIV infections” and “Zero AIDS-related deaths” “soun[d] right.”

“The second answer is to build on the AIDS-fighting platform to fight other deadly diseases in developing nations, especially in Africa,” Glassman says, noting that the Bush Institute, along with private partners, and the State Department are working to do this. “Americans, Africans, and others who have battled AIDS so successfully in the past decade should not rest on their considerable laurels. It’s time to re-double our efforts against the disease and to build on the powerful disease-fighting platform that’s been created,” he concludes (12/2).